A school in Hampshire was evacuated on 7th November after a fire broke out in the roof.

Fire crews attended the incident at Clere Secondary School in Burghclere at around 2pm when a blaze was reported to have broken out in the roof of the sports hall.

Around 700 pupils were evacuated from the school. Access to the roof was hampered by solar panels. It was quickly decided that crews would use compressed air foam to fight the fire internally.

A structural engineer from Basingstoke & Deane Council attended the incident as fears grew that the roof may collapse. It is thought that around a fifth of the roof was damaged in the fire.

Senior fire officer Dave Graham said: “The school was brilliant at evacuating the children in good time and crews worked hard under challenging conditions, hindered by the solar panels, to keep the fire from entering the sports hall and stop what could have been 100 per cent damage to the property.”

Amanda Keable from the school said she at first thought that the smoke was coming from a nearby bonfire but soon realised it was a blaze on the school premises. Ms Keable said: “The children were fantastic in evacuating the building and crew have been brilliant in keeping us updated and working hard in hot conditions.”

Detectives investigating the cause of the fire have recently arrested four teenagers, and have charged a 15-year-old, from Newbury, with arson with intent. The suspect is due to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court.

Two 14-year-old boys have been released on bail until December 24, pending further enquiries. A 15-year-old girl was also arrested in connection with the incident but was later released.

Ten people had to be rescued from a block of flats in Scotland on 4th November after a fire broke out at around 3.30am. The people were trapped on the upper floors of the building and could not escape due to the intense flames and smoke.

No-one was injured in the incident but two of the residents were treated for smoke inhalation.

Strathclyde Police has launched an investigation with the fire service to find out what caused the blaze. It is thought that the fire was started deliberately.

Detective Inspector John Shaw of East Kilbride CID said: “This was a terrifying experience for the occupants of the flats, and made even worse by the fact that early investigations have told us that the fire was started deliberately by an unknown person or persons. Thankfully, no one was injured in this incident; however, if it was not for the swift action of the occupants and the emergency services then we may have been dealing with serious injuries or even fatalities.”

Fifteen people were evacuated from their homes in the early hours of 30th October after a fire broke out at the St Elizabeth Hospice charity shop in Great Yarmouth.

The alarm was raised by Emma Trudgill who lives near to the shop. Miss Trudgill said: “We checked around the flat to see everything was all right and then Zachary went downstairs. He looked outside and saw smoke and when he touched the glass window of the St Elizabeth Hospice charity shop he realised it was hot. We called 999 and also began alerting other neighbours.”

Three fire crews attended the incident on King Street at around 3.45am and initially feared that people may be inside the property. Thankfully all people nearby were accounted for and the fire was extinguished within the hour.

Alison Lanchester, director of income generation at the Ipswich-based hospice, said: “It sounds as if the fire has been very extensive. It is one of our recently opened shops and our manager is quite upset. It is a shame as it is all donated stock and the shop trades very well.”

A recycling centre in Lincolnshire has been hit by fire for the second time in two weeks.

The fire broke out at the Caythorpe recycling centre on Friday 2nd November and firefighters took around 3 hours to fully extinguish the blaze. Two crews from Grantham, one from Brant Broughton and a fourth from Sleaford attended the incident.

​A spokesman for Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue service said that the cause of the blaze was ‘combustion’.

John Cook, division commander for Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said that the fire service would continue to work closely with staff at Mid UK to reduce the risk of any more fires.

Mr Cook said: “Mid-UK and Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue worked well together and will continue to do so to minimise the risks at the site.”